Packaging device for a windscreen wiper comprising a curved blade and an integrated flexible structure

ABSTRACT

A packaging device for a windscreen wiper blade has a housing configured to receive the blade, having a first support surface configured to contact a portion of an upper part of the blade, a second support surface configured to contact a first portion of a lower part of the blade, a third support surface configured to contact a second portion of the lower part of the blade, a centering means, and a hooking means for hanging the packaging device vertically. The centering means blocks the blade at the center of the housing when the packaging device is hung. The first support surface extends opposite an area situated between the second support surface and the third support surface, and the first, second, and third support surfaces together immobilize the blade inside the housing in a position that is at least partially straightened out relative to a resting position of the blade.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 10/572,003, filed on Mar. 15, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,365,317, thecontents of which are incorporated by reference herein, in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The invention relates to a packaging device indented for packaging awindscreen wiper blade comprising a curved blade with integratedflexible structure.

The invention has a particularly advantageous, although not exclusive,application in the field of spare parts for motor vehicles.

2. Background Art

Today, there is a new generation of windscreen wiper blades that havethe particularity of not being equipped with compensator structures, asopposed to the straight windscreen wiper blades that are commonly usednowadays. This new type of windscreen wiper still has a flexible wipingblade, but the outer framework that is responsible for supporting it isreplaced by a flexible structure that is integrated directly in theblade. The assembly is arranged such that in its resting position, theblade has a concave longitudinal shape in its sagittal plane, and yet,When in contact with a surface to be wiped, said blade is able tostraighten up by elastic distortion of its flexible structure so as tomatch said surface as best as possible throughout its entire movement.

Due precisely to its curved shape, a windscreen wiper with a curvedblade is much larger in its resting position than a similar windscreenwiper with compensators and a straight blade. It therefore turns out tobe a lot more problematic to package it, since it is not conceivable touse a simple blister pack with a matching shape. The volume of thepackaging must, in fact, be relatively reduced mainly for reasons ofmanufacturing costs, protection of the environment and logistics amongothers.

In order to solve this difficulty, there are known ways of using apackaging provided with holding means that can be used to immobilize theblade inside a housing, in a position that is at least partiallystraightened out in relation to its resting position.

International patent application WO 01/30619 describes mainly apackaging device that is presented in the form of a shell in which tworectilinear grooves are made facing each other. The assembly is arrangedso that each groove is able to fit together with a projecting part thatextends along the entire matching face of the blade, and mainly with oneof the elastically deformable tongues that make up the flexiblestructure.

This document also describes a substantially equivalent variant. Infact, contrary to the embodiment of the invention mentioned previously,the shell in this case is provided with two inner flanges that are bothrigid and linear. Arranged opposite each other, they can fit into aseries of grooves that extend longitudinally on either side of the heelof the blade, and mainly in the existing grooves, which are designed soas to provide the blade with the flexibility required for its reversal.

This type of packaging device, however, has the disadvantage of beingparticularly impractical to use. The placing of the blade inside thehousing turns out, in fact, to be very complicated in the practice,since it requires said blade to be precisely straightened out in orderto be able to perform the double fitting with the shell, whichfurthermore covers the entire length of all the sides of said blade.Moreover, such a packaging device does not allow the blade to bepromoted sufficiently, insofar as all its sides are partially concealedby the holding means once said blade is in place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Also, the technical problem to be solved by this invention is to providea packaging device for a windscreen wiper with a curved blade and anintegrated flexible structure, said packaging device comprising ahousing that is designed to receive the blade, as well as holding meansthat are used to immobilize said blade inside said housing in a positionthat can be at least partially straightened out in relation to itsresting position, a packaging device that would make it possible toavoid the problems of the state of the art mainly by providingconsiderably improved user-friendliness, while improving its capacityfor promoting the product.

The solution to the posed technical problem consists, according to thisinvention, in that the holding means comprise a first support surfacethat can cooperate by contact with a portion of the upper part of theblade, a second support surface that can cooperate by contact with afirst portion of the lower part of said blade, and a third supportsurface that can cooperate by contact with a second portion of saidlower part of the blade, the first support surface extending opposite anarea situated between the second support surface and the third supportsurface.

The invention as described has the advantage of being extremely easy touse. The fact that the holding means of the packaging device aredesigned so as to cooperate with parts of the blade that are trulyexternal and opposite in the sagittal plane implies that the relevantsupport surfaces are positioned substantially opposite each other and ata distance, which therefore makes them particularly accessible.

To be put in place, the blade simply needs to be straightened out in itssagittal plane without it being necessary to give it a particular curve,unlike in the previous technique. Once positioned between the holdingmeans, the blade is released until its upper and lower parts come intocontact with the relevant support surfaces. The elastic restoring forcecreated by placing the flexible structure under stress between thevarious support surfaces thus assures the immobilization of thewindscreen wiper inside the housing.

In addition, the fact that the holding takes place respectively at thelevel of the upper and lower ends of the blade makes it possible to freeup the space situated on the sides of said blade. With the obviouscondition that the corresponding wall of the packaging is transparent ortranslucent, it is therefore possible to show at least one of the sidesof the blade almost entirely. This makes it possible to promote theshape and/or the particular structure of the blade. This aestheticcharacteristic constitutes a decisive advantage from a marketing pointof view.

It should be noted that the real contact surface between each supportsurface and the corresponding portion of the blade is not necessarilycontinuous, but rather that it can consist of several contact points ofvariable sizes and more or less regularly spaced.

This invention also relates to the characteristics that will appearthroughout the following description, and which must be consideredseparately or according to all their possible technical combinations.

This description, provided as a non-exhaustive example, will facilitateunderstanding of how the invention can be manufactured, in relation tothe appended drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a windscreen wiper that can bepackaged in a packaging device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the windscreen wiper in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a packaging device according to the invention.

FIG. 4 shows the position of the windscreen wiper in FIGS. 1 and 2inside the housing of the packaging device in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section view of the assembly in FIG. 4, made at thelevel of the centre of the windscreen wiper.

FIG. 6 also shows a cross-section view of the assembly in FIG. 4, butmade in this case at the level of one of the contact areas of thewindscreen wiper.

FIG. 7 shows a first portion of the central part of the packaging devicein FIG. 3, a portion in which the restraining means are visible.

FIG. 8 shows a second portion of the central part of the packagingdevice in FIG. 3, a portion in which the centering means are visible.

FIG. 9 shows an end of the housing made in the centre of the packagingdevice in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For reasons of clarity, the same elements are designated using identicalreferences. Likewise, only the elements that are essential forunderstanding the invention are represented, and this without respectingthe scale and in a schematic fashion.

FIG. 1 shows in a schematic fashion a windscreen blade 100 with a curvedblade 110 and an integrated flexible structure 120, which is moreparticularly designed for equipping a motor vehicle. It should be notedthat in this field, such a wiping element is often called a flat bladedue to its small height, a characteristic that results precisely fromthe lack of a compensator framework. In this representation in restingposition, the curved shape of the blade 110 which is imposed by thecurved profile of the flexible structure 120 is remarkable, whatever itis.

Thus, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2, the blade 110 of thewindscreen wiper 100 normally consists of a lip 111 that is designed tocooperate directly by sliding contact with a surface to be wiped, aswell as of a heel 112 that forms an interface between said lip 111 andthe flexible structure 120. Due to their respective functions, the lip111 is particularly hard and resistant to wear, while the heel 112provides the flexibility required for the optimum return of the blade110 during inversions of the wiping direction. It should be noted thatin this case this flexibility results, above all, from the particularcut of the heel 112 of the blade 110, and mainly from the presence oflongitudinal grooves 113.

The presence of a spoiler 114 is also remarkable, which is also normallyan integral part of the upper part of the heel 112. In fact, the blade110 consists of an elastomer profile that groups together, in anassembly made from a single part, both the lip 111, the heel 112 and thespoiler 114.

As for the flexible structure 120, it consists, in this example of anembodiment of the invention, of two elastically deformable tongues 121,which are longitudinally integrated, respectively at the level of eitherside of the blade 110. Each tongue 121, commonly called a vertebra, isused to distribute the support pressure evenly over the entire length ofthe blade 110 with the aim of optimizing the wiping quality. They aremade from metal in this embodiment of the invention.

Another distinguishing feature is the presence of a linking element 130,which in this case is still normally designed to allow the blade 100 tobe mounted on a driving mechanism. In order to fulfil its function, thelinking element 130 is solidly attached to the upper part 140 of theblade 100 and it has a structure that can cooperate by assembly withcomplementary linking means, arranged at the end of the operating arm ofthe associated driving mechanism.

FIG. 3 shows a packaging device I designed to be used as the packagingof a windscreen wiper 100 as described above. In this particularembodiment of the invention, selected only as an example, the packagingdevice 1 is the provided with a housing 10 designed to receive the blade100, as well as holding means 20 that are used to immobilize said blade100 inside said housing 10 in a position that is partially straightenedout in relation to its resting position.

In accordance with the objective of this invention, the holding means 20comprise, initially, a support surface 21 that can cooperate by contactwith a portion 141 of the upper part 140 of the blade 100. The holdingmeans 20 are also provided with a second support surface 22 which canalso cooperate by contact with a first portion 151 of the lower part 150of the blade 100. The holding means 20 are finally provided with a thirdsupport surface 23 that can cooperate by contact with a second portion152 of the lower part 150 of the blade 100. The assembly is arrangedsuch that the first support surface 21 extends opposite an area situatedbetween the second support surface 22 and the third support surface 23.The three support surfaces 21, 22, 23 are thus positioned in a triangleat a distance from each other, which makes it possible to effectivelyprovide three-point holding.

In a particularly advantageous fashion, the three support surfaces 21,22, 23 are arranged such that the first support surface 21 can cooperateby contact with a substantially central portion 141 of the upper part140 of the blade 100, and such that the second support surface 22 andthe third support surface 23 are respectively able to cooperate withgenerally extremal portions 151, 152 of the lower part 150 of said blade100.

According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, thefirst support surface 21 is arranged substantially at equal distancesfrom the second support surface 22 and from the third support surface23. This specific feature enables an even distribution of the pressureforces that are generated by the elastic distortion of the flexiblestructure 120 and which result in the blade 100 being held inside thehousing 10.

According to a particularity of the invention that can be seen in FIG.4, the first support surface 21 consists of a portion of a wall 11 thatdelimits the sides of the housing 10.

In this example of an embodiment of the invention, the blade 100comprises a linking element 130 positioned on its upper part 140, sothat it is advantageous for the first support surface 21 to be able tocooperate by contact with the relevant linking element 130.

According to another particularity of the invention, the second supportsurface 22 and the third support surface 23 consist of portions of thesame flange 12 made longitudinally in the bottom of the housing 10.

Preferably, the second support surface 22 and the third support surface23 are arranged such as to be able to cooperate by contact with the heel112 of the blade 110. The aim is to prevent any contact between thepackaging device 1 and the lip 111, in order to preserve the integrityof the latter.

If it is important for the relevant contacts to be made at the level ofparts of the blade 110 that are adjacent to the lip 111, it is even moreparticularly advantageous for the second support surface 22 and thethird support surface 23 to be able to cooperate by contact with theflexible structure 120 which is integrated in the heel 112 of the blade110 (FIG. 6). In fact, each metal tongue 121 in this example of anembodiment of the invention has a hardness that is considerably higherthan that of the elastomer that makes up the blade 110, such that itconstitutes a considerably more stable contact surface, resulting inimproved holding. This characteristic also allows the integrity of theflexible blade, which is, by nature, a lot more fragile than theflexible structure 120, to be preserved.

According to another particularity of the invention, the packagingdevice 1 is provided with restraining means 30 that can block at least apart of the blade 100 inside the housing 10, along a direction that issubstantially perpendicular to the sagittal plane of said blade 100.

In a particularly advantageous fashion, the restraining means 30 areable to pin at least a part of the blade 100 against the bottom 13 ofthe housing 10. This characteristic makes it possible to restrict thelateral play of the blade 100 when it is inside the housing 10.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show in detail the holding of the blade 100 inside thehousing 10 at the level of the various contact points.

FIG. 5 deals more particularly with the relative positioning within thecentral part. It shows mainly the block made between the side wall 11that delimits the housing 10 and the upper part 140 of the blade 100,materialized by the linking element 130. As for the lower part 150 ofthe blade 100, it is not subjected to any constraints in this specificplace.

Also remarkable is the action of the restraining means 30, whichparticipate in keeping the blade 100 flat against the bottom 13 of thehousing 10. In this specific embodiment of the invention, therestraining means 30 comprise a stop 31 that is arranged directly belowthe housing 10 and which can also cooperate by contact with a portion ofthe lateral side of the blade 100, in this case, the linking element130. It should be noted that if the stop 31 must be placed at the levelof the opening of the housing 10 in order to fulfil its function, itspositioning in terms of height from the bottom 13 only depends on thethickness of the upper part 140 of the blade 100, regardless of thedepth of said housing 10.

In the enlarged diagram shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen clearly that, inthis example of an embodiment of the invention, the stop 31 is presentedmore specifically in the shape of a longitudinal flange, forming areturn, which extends parallel to the bottom 13 of the housing 10.

As for FIG. 6, it shows the positioning of either end of the blade 100in the housing 10. It should be noted that in this area only the lowerpart 150 of the blade 100 is in contact with the packaging device 1. Inthis case, as has already been explained previously, it is one of thetongues 121 of the flexible structure 120 which cooperates by contactwith the flange 12 made longitudinally in the bottom of the housing.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the packaging device 1 is also provided withhooking means 40 that can allow it to be hung in a position that matchesa substantially vertical position of the blade 100. In this example ofan embodiment of the invention, the hooking means 40 consist of astandard through hole 41 which is shaped such as to be able to cooperatewith a harness hook of any display stand whatsoever.

According to another particularity of the invention, which can be seenin FIGS. 3 and 4, the packaging device 1 is also provided with centeringmeans 50 which can longitudinally block the blade 100 inside the housing10, at least in a given direction and substantially at the centre ofsaid housing 10.

In the event of the longitudinal blocking not being complete, in otherwords of it only being effective in one direction, it is particularlyadvantageous for the centering means 50 to be able to block the blade100 at the centre of the housing 10 when the packaging device 1 is hungin a substantially vertical fashion, by means of its hooking means 40.

When the blade 100 comprises a linking element 130 on its upper part 140as in our specific embodiment of the invention, it is also particularlyadvantageous for the centering means 50 to consist of a stop 51 that cancooperate by contact with said linking element 130.

In the enlargement of FIG. 8, it can be seen clearly that in thisembodiment of the invention the stop 51 is presented, more specifically,in the form of a block placed transversally in the housing 10. In otherterms, the relevant block extends perpendicular in relation to thelateral wall 11 and to the bottom 13.

It should be noted that this type of configuration turns out to beextremely interesting from an industrial point of view, since itfacilitates the work of the operator who is responsible for thepackaging. In fact, it is not necessary for the blade 100 to be insertedin the housing 10 in a unidirectional fashion, but rather it can beinserted indifferently from several very different approach angles. Inmore simple terms, the operator only has to take one centering stop intoaccount instead of two, which considerably simplifies the filling task.

The usefulness of the centering means 50 is in systematicallypositioning the blade 100 in the centre of the housing 10, regardless ofthe length and thus the weight of said blade 100. It is thereforepossible to package different sizes of blades 100 in the same type ofpackaging device 1, without needing to modify the position of the centreof gravity of the assembly. This characteristic makes it possibleadvantageously to obtain regular alignments when hanging severaldifferent packaging devices 1, even if the blades they contain are ofdifferent sizes. The promotion of the product is therefore improved to aconsiderable extent.

In accordance with another characteristic of the invention, the housing10 is delimited in this case by a substantially rigid shell 14. This isa kind of thin envelope which, however, offers mechanical resistancethat is compatible with its protective packaging function.

In a particularly advantageous fashion, the shell 14 is transparent ortranslucent. This characteristic makes it possible for the blade 100 toremain visible when it is packaged in the packaging device I accordingto the invention. In fact, it seems to be essential to promote thedistinctive aesthetic features of this type of windscreen wiper 100 witha curved blade 110 and an integrated flexible structure 120, mainly ascompared to the straight blades that are commonly used.

In this example of an embodiment of the invention, the shell 14 istherefore made from a plastic material, in this case an amorphoustransparent PET, with a thickness of around 500 μm.

From a marketing point of view, it is also preferable to present theblade 100 in a position that is only partially straightened, in order toexpose the curve of its blade 110 since, in addition to its intrinsicaesthetic features, the shape of the blade 100 is an essentialdistinctive characteristic for telling it apart from standard straightblades.

According to another particularity of the invention, the packagingdevice 1 comprises reinforcement means 60 that can increase the rigidityof the shell 14. The aim is to prevent the shell 14 from twisting whensubjected to the forces of pressure caused by the elastic distortion ofthe flexible structure 120 of the blade 100.

In this specific embodiment of the invention, the reinforcement means 60are initially provided with a shoulder 61 that is made in the peripheryof the opening of the housing 10 and which extends in a substantiallyperpendicular fashion to the side wall 11 of the shell 14 (FIG. 9). Itshould be noted that the shoulder 61 can extend continuously or not, andin a more or less regular fashion.

The reinforcement means 60 are also provided with four ribs 62 a, 62 b,62 c, 62 d which are arranged transversally in the bottom of the shell14. As for the nature of the shell 14, each transversal rib 62 a, 62 b,62 c, 62 d is presented here in the form of a hollow rib, although solidribs with adapted dimensions can also obviously be used.

According to another particularity of the invention, the packagingdevice 1 comprises a sealing element that can block the opening of thehousing 10. Not shown here for reasons of clarity, the sealing elementnonetheless has a shape that is substantially identical to theattachment area 15 which extends perpendicular to the opening of thehousing 10 and which, in this case, is an integral part of the shell 14.The sealing element can also have any other shape that is compatiblewith the length of the blade 100. It can, furthermore, be solidlyattached to the attachment area 15 by means of any known fixingtechnique, mainly by gluing, welding, stapling, lock mechanisms, etc.The sealing element can also be made from any kind of material, andmainly from cardboard so as to be able advantageously to carryinformation.

It should be noted that the sealing element, as in the case of theinternal flange 12, also participates in the stiffening of the shell 14,as do the reinforcement means 60.

1.-21. (canceled)
 22. A packaging device for a windscreen wiper blade,the packaging device comprising: a housing configured to receive theblade, wherein the housing comprises: a first support surface configuredto contact a portion of an upper part of the blade; a second supportsurface configured to contact a first portion of a lower part of theblade; a third support surface configured to contact a second portion ofthe lower part of the blade; a centering means; and a hooking means forhanging the packaging device in a substantially vertical fashion,wherein said centering means is configured to block the bladesubstantially at the center of the housing when the packaging device ishung by the hooking means, wherein the first support surface extendsopposite an area situated between the second support surface and thethird support surface, wherein the first, second, and third supportsurfaces together immobilize the blade inside the housing in a positionthat is at least partially straightened out relative to a restingposition of the blade, and wherein the packaging device is for receivinga windscreen wiper blade comprising a curved blade and an integratedflexible structure.
 23. The packaging device according to claim 22,wherein the first support contacts a substantially central portion ofthe upper part of the blade, and wherein the second support surface andthe third support surface respectively contact substantially extremalportions of the lower part of the blade.
 24. The packaging deviceaccording to claim 22, wherein the first support surface is placedsubstantially at an equal distance from the second support surface andthe third support surface.
 25. The packaging device according to claim22, wherein the first support surface comprises a portion of wall thatlaterally delimits the housing.
 26. The packaging device according toclaim 22, wherein the blade further comprises a linking element locatedon the upper part intended to enable an assembly of the blade on adriving mechanism, and wherein the first support surface contacts thelinking element.
 27. The packaging device according to claim 22, whereinthe second support surface and the third support surface comprisesportions of a flange arranged longitudinally in a bottom of the housing.28. The packaging device according to claim 22, wherein the secondsupport surface and the third support surface contact a heel of theblade.
 29. The packaging device according to claim 22, furthercomprising a restraint configured to block at least a part of the bladeinside the housing, according to a direction that is substantiallyperpendicular to a sagittal plane of the blade.
 30. The packaging deviceaccording to claim 22, wherein the blade further comprises a linkingelement on the upper part of the blade, wherein the linking elementenables an assembly of the blade on a driving mechanism, and wherein thecentering means comprises a stop that contacts said linking element. 31.The packaging device according to claim 22, wherein the housing isdelimited by a substantially rigid shell.
 32. The packaging deviceaccording to claim 31, wherein the shell is transparent or translucent.33. The packaging device according to claim 22, further comprising areinforcement that increases the rigidity of a shell, wherein thehousing is delimited by the shell.
 34. The packaging device according toclaim 33, wherein the reinforcement comprises a shoulder which is madein the periphery of an opening of the housing and which extendssubstantially perpendicular to the side wall of the shell.
 35. Thepackaging device according to claim 33, wherein the reinforcementcomprises at least one rib placed transversally in the bottom of theshell.
 36. The packaging device according to claim 22, furthercomprising a sealing element that blocks an opening of the housing. 37.A packaging device for a windscreen wiper blade, the blade including alinking element enabling the blade to be mounted on a driving mechanism,the packaging device comprising: a housing configured to receive theblade, wherein the housing comprises: a first support surface configuredto contact a portion of an upper part of the blade; a second supportsurface configured to contact a first portion of a lower part of theblade; a third support surface configured to contact a second portion ofthe lower part of the blade; and a hooking means for hanging thepackaging device in a substantially vertical fashion, wherein the firstsupport surface extends opposite an area situated between the secondsupport surface and the third support surface, wherein the first,second, and third support surfaces contact the blade inside the housingsuch that the blade is at least partially straightened out relative to aresting position of the blade, and wherein the first support surfacecontacts the linking element, and wherein the packaging device is forreceiving a windscreen wiper blade comprising a curved blade and anintegrated flexible structure.
 38. The packaging device according toclaim 37, wherein the first support contacts a substantially centralportion of the upper part of the blade, and wherein the second supportsurface and the third support surface respectively contact substantiallyextremal portions of the lower part of the blade.
 39. The packagingdevice according to claim 37, wherein the first support surface isplaced substantially at an equal distance from the second supportsurface and the third support surface.
 40. The packaging deviceaccording to claim 37, wherein the first support surface comprises aportion of wall that laterally delimits the housing.
 41. The packagingdevice according to claim 37, the package further comprising a centeringmeans, wherein said centering means is configured to block the bladesubstantially at the center of the housing when the packaging device ishung by the hooking means.